Pulling a classic Homelite out of Mothballs for grins

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

pybyr

Minister of Fire
Jun 3, 2008
2,300
Adamant, VT 05640
My dad, at my request, never jettisoned the saw he had when I was a kid- a really early Homelite SuperXL-

One of the really early, good ones, from before they were cheapened.

Built like the proverbial brick outhouse without a detectable bit of plastic other than bakelite tank caps.

It's been carefully put away, after being run dry so as to avoid stale fuel/ carb gumming, for many years.

I have no illusions that I'd want to start using it regularly, but would get a big grin out of trying it out.

Any suggestions of things to do or avoid in firing it back up?

Should I use a heavy oil:fuel ratio as originally recommended or are the modern lubes good enough to run modern lighter ratios?

Thanks
 
50:1 ok to run but you could go a little heavier to. Say 40:1
 
Just be mindful that it's a no chain brake, manual oiling beast of a saw. Modern oils at whatever ratio is specified on the oil bottle is fine. Make sure you run it dry after your done. No telling what modern fuel will do to old rubber parts in the carb.
 
Let's see some pics of the old workhorse! :coolgrin:
 
Yes, some pictures would be nice. Might bring back some old memories as I've run a few Homelites in my time. Back then we never even heard of chain brakes and automatic oilers. Didn't seem to bother us either. In fact, in the years I've ran a saw, and it has been a few, I can say I've not yet had a need a chain brake.
 
as mentioned the newer ratios will be fine. older ratio would work, as well.

Those old Homelite SuperXLs must be good saws, because it seems there sure are a lot of them out there still running. When I do craigslist searches usually a handful pop up (but never close enough to get one). I've thought about buying one because they seem to be bulletproof, there is a plethora of parts saws around, and they are fairly inexpensive for the CCs.

get it cleaned and running, and then post some pictures and/or video.
 
Try to fuel it up with out ethanol fuel. They didn't even know what ethanol was back then, unless they were drinking it. The old lines, gaskets, etc. are really not fit for it. Although, at minimum run time it may be a touch of over kill. I would just be concerned with any left behind when you run it dry. I would probably go with a 40:1 ratio simply because it will match the "consistency" of the old mix better. It could run fat (rich) on a thinner mix.

Factoid of obviousness: The more oil in the mix, the less fuel. It was designed for a stiff mix.

I have an OLD skool that was designed to mix motor oil and fuel for the mix. Try it on 50:1 and it runs like crap without a carb adjustment. Motor oil was used for bar lube also. :smirk:
 
Do what ya wanna do but 32:1 was the mix in the olden days.
 
Not to make it sound even more complex, but wasn't the fuel back then like low 80s octane, too? Maybe even leaded? All I know is that my MAC-15 runs fine with the exact same mix I use in my "newer" Stihl.
 
Unleaded became mandatory in 1973.
 
BrotherBart said:
Unleaded became mandatory in 1973.
I think the SuperXL was a late 60s saw...
 
Unleaded 87 Octane mixed at 50:1/40:1 will run it just fine. Some of the older saws back in the day are spec'd at 16:1 but that's because you were mixing 30wt engine oil in the gas. The improvements that allow us to run 50:1 (or 100:1!) today are in the oils we use, not due to any particular improvements in the engines.

And I would be surprised if a carb adjustment wasn't needed to get it running great again.
 
Thanks for the input everyone- got sidetracked with other projects...

This saw is as old as I am, maybe a few years older. It does have an auto-chain-oiler but with an augmenting plunger oiler button.

I completely realize that it lacks all now-usual safety features and that I will need to be extra-on-my-toes accordingly.

One of these days when I take it out for a spin I'll try to get some photos and do a retro-review...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.